Summer Vacations 2009: Newport Beach Edition

The last weekend in May, we met up our good friends the Hills and the Corbetts at the Newport Coast Villas in Newport Beach. I remember in high school, we would all talk about the day we would plan fun vacations when we are married and have kids, and we finally did it!
Our room was so nice with 2 big bedrooms:

Mackenna exploring the room:

We started the vacation off with breakfast at our favorite place called Pacific Whey and a trip to the beach with my sis, Wes, and Hailey.

Weston and Steven came up with the brilliant idea of digging a "pack n play" for the girls so they would be confined to one area. They actually though it was the coolest thing ever and stayed in for a really long time:


Parker (Sean and Ashley's little boy) and Mackenna at Fashion Island. Mackenna's 3 weeks younger than Parker...she's huge!

Sean, Brad, Mackenna (with crazy hair) and Steve. They've been friends since elementary school. We totally forgot to take a picture with the girls, but Ashley, Kirstie and I had a really fun time too!

The pool at the hotel:

Me and Mackenna on our last day there:

Thanks to the Hills for coming down from Arizona and the Corbetts for coming up from San Diego. We had a lot of fun with you guys and can't wait to do it again next year!

Summer Vacations 2009: Palm Springs Edition

The first weekend of June was our annual Paul Family Palm Springs vacation. We stayed at an amazing resort called the Marriott Shadowridge and it is by far one of my favorite places we've ever stayed. Not only was it brand new, but it was so kid friendly and located right by everything: restaurants, malls, etc. As soon as we arrived, we changed into our swimsuits and headed directly for one of the pools, which happened to have the greatest little toddler water-park (pictured below):

Our favorite Ruth's Chris is in Palm Springs, so we all got dressed up to go on our first night there, including Mackenna. Little did we know that this time our dinner would be extra special...
...and seated right next to us would be Mc Steamy (from Grey's Anatomy, on the left in a light blue shirt) and his wife, who just happened to be on a double date with Dr. Jason Diamond (from Dr. 90210, back to the camera) and his wife.
The next day, of course, we swam all day. Mackenna's a great little swimmer now and it's so nice that now I can just put her floaties on and relax by the pool. Nana has been giving her swim lessons and she's catching on really quickly:
At breakfast with her little friend, Madison:
Then more swimming:

At the outdoor mall with Madison and Grandma Kathy:

Our attempt at a nice family photo (Steve looks fine, Mackenna's having a breakdown because I made her sit by me instead of with Grandma Kathy, and I look very surprised for some reason):

One of the views from our hotel room:

another view (of one of the pools) from our hotel room:
We were sad to leave and wished we could've stayed longer, but we're so greatful to have such great in-laws and friends to take us on such fun vacations. Can't wait for next year!

My Little Dancer

Mackenna's first dance recital was last weekend and although I had major anxiety about whether or not she would perform, she actually did a fabulous job! She was so stinking cute and I was so glad to see that the last 6 months of tap and ballet classes have paid off. Both sets of grandparents were able to come to the recital, as well as Uncle Kevin, Aunt Ashley, Uncle Weston, and most importantly, Cousin Hailey.
Here's Mackenna getting ready to leave (notice the darling hair that my mom spent a good hour doing...it's a little nerve-wracking taking a tiny curling iron to a squirming 2-year-old's head):

More views of the darling hair:

Nana bribed Mackenna with lots of candy:

Grandma Kathy and Mackenna right before she went on stage:

Warming up...just kidding...playing with chalk:

This is her class, they were all so cute and adorable. I'm totally going to miss taking Mackenna to dance very Wednesday! (Mackenna is second in from the right):

After a perfect performance and tons of applause, she couldn't be happier (that smile had nothing to do with Hailey giving Mackenna tons of candy):

I just LOVE having a little girl and getting to do things like this with her. Can't wait for many many more dance recitals in the future!

Happy 50th!

My beautiful mother and mother-in-law both turned 50 within 3 weeks of each other, so we've had a lot of fun celebrating their big birthdays the past month. Most recent was Kathy's birthday which we had at the Summitt House in Fullerton. It was so beautiful, reminded me of a wedding, and the food was fabulous. Happy Birthday, Kath!
I had this cake made for her:

centerpieces:

"Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you..."

May 17th was my mom's birthday and Ashley and I threw her a big surprise party at one of her favorite restaurants. We had about 30 of her closest friends and family there and it turned out perfect.

Again, I put myself in charge of getting the cake made. This cake had all of my mom's favorite things on it, for example, her riding a horse, a vaccuum cleaner, her 2 granddaughters, her dog Scooter, tv set with a Lifetime move on, a mouth with braces, and the names of all of our immediate family.

She thought she was just meeting me and ash for dinner, but when she walked in, my grandparents surprised her. They flew down from Idaho just for the party! She cried, it was precious, but little did she know that the big suprise was still waiting for her!

centerpieces (flower vases with pictures of Shauna and her favorite people). We also made litte chinese take-out boxes with hershey's hugs and kisses and hot tamales in them for the party favors. The tag on the outside read: Hugs and Kisses from a 50 year old hot tamale.

photo op with the birthday girl:

All of the family that was able to be there: